Image: The Huffington Post

Let’s hear it for Google who unveiled its latest, and perhaps most ‘out of the box’ utilization of its Street View technology. Now, instead of burning time on the internet checking out prospective apartments or seeing what your old college neighborhood looks like, you can pay a virtual visit to any of 17 partner museums.

Image: The Huffington Post

The tool offers an amazing level of interactivity, allowing you to “walk” the museum corridors on your own. When you find a masterpiece that piques your interest (or is on your bucket list), stop and zoom in to investigate the high resolution version. The degree to which you can zoom in is pretty amazing–you can get close to a point that might garner unwanted attention from museum guards in person.

Image: The Huffington Post

Other integrated features allow you to jump around the museums using detailed floor plans, view additional information for a given piece, and even check out videos made specifically for the platform.

While it’s certainly no substitution for a long day wandering through hallowed halls of art appreciation, Google has yet again acted in all of our creative best interests. Getting to all these museums in a lifetime in person would be a major accomplishment for even the most serious art buffs, and few of us are lucky enough to qualify within that category.

Image: The Huffington Post

For more info, check out this handy video and then have a look around the Tate, MoMA or Museo Reina Sofia yourself. Enjoy!